Tweezers



April 24, 192s.

S. SEGAL TWEEZERS Filed April 15 Patented Apr. 24, 1928.

UNr-ran STATI-:s-

. LSG-7,1m

-Pfrxrela'r OFFICE.

SAMUEL sneu, or N nw You, N. Y.

appncatonniea april 15, 1924. l'aerial no. 706,644.

This invention relatesto an .improved tweezer.

1t is an object of the presentinvention to provide a device of the type stated-by means of whichla particle of foreign matter, halr,

etc., may be gripped and removed from thev surface or body in whichit is embedded or rooted.

A further object-is that of providing a t-weezer in which the member to be removed will be withdrawn in'its entirety. v A still further object is that of constructing -a device of the character stated, in` which the entire operation will be performed in such amanner as to be nearly painless as possible. Another object is thatof providing a tweezer which will eiciently perform the purposes for which it is intended, and which will also be economically and readily manufactured-.and assembled.

Other objects of the rinvention will in .part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. f

The invention accordingly comprisesl an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation'of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope vof the a plication of which will be'indicated in the c aims. v

For a fuller understanding ofthe nature and objects of the invention reference should be had tothe following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which: .f

Fig. l is a partly sectional side elevationI` of oneform of the invention and showing the device in'its open position;

Fig. 2 is an edge view there-of;

Fig. V3 1s a View similar toF.ig. l, but

showing another form of the invention andillustrating the device as being in its closed or retracted position;

Fig. 4 shows in detail one of 'the elements of construction utilized in connection with the device as shown in Fig. 3; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional side views of other forms ofthe device constructed in accordance with the vention.

While the present invention aims to provide an instrument primarily intended for use as a toilet article', or in fact for surgical use, it will Abe appreciated that the same terms of the present' in.

' against the adjacent surfaces of the,

might be employedl to advantage .in connection with vmechanica-l work.. However, in the annexed description the vvarious opera'- tive examples given are such as would occur in connection with the first mentioned uses.

Thus, referri ng to Figs. 1 to 5, it will be noted that the reference numeral 10 indicates a spring yoke which may include a pair of resilient arms attached together adjacent one of their ends, their opposite ends being materially spaced. Disposed between 'these arms is ai' pincette 11, including in the usual manner a and it is intended that the yoke aforedescribed may be in the nature of anactugripping member between the jaws of which splinters, hairs and other small particles of matter may be gripped and subsequently removed from the body in which they are lodged or imbedded. f v

In order to accomplish this result, it will be noted, reference being had particularly to" Figs. 1 and 2, that the ends of the pincette extend materially .beyond the ends ofthe arms forming `the yoke member, and these elements are connected together by Ameans of pair of spring gripping elements, i

.16 Aating element, whilel the pincette acts as a."

links 12,'which have theirouter ends pivotally attached as at 13 to the yoke arms adja- 4 cent the outer ends of the latter, while their. inner ends are pivotally attached .as at 14 toA :the outer faces of the 4pincette legs.

- .As a consequence and due to theinheren resiliency, of the yoke arms, as well as such resiliencyv as maybe incorporated in the pincette, the. former will tend -to normally remain in the position shown, and as a con-- moving vbeyond the position shown in lilig.Y 1*, i. e.,`the position in which the links extend slightly rearwardly, it will be observed .arms are moved towards each other, this action will result in the jaws beingbrought .sequence the jaws of the latter will be separated. In order to prevent the parts from towards each other and in the pincette being subsequently projected rearwardly towards the point. of attachment of the yoke arms to each other.

It is desirable in most instances that the adjacent surfaces of the jaws should be brought into actual and intimate contact before the pincette is projected rearwardly. In other words, assuming that it is desired to remove a foreign substance or particle, this element must necessarily be tightly ri ped before it may be removed from the odjf with which it is associated. In order to accomplish this action of the parts, as Well as to properly guide the movements of the pincette, it will be observed in the present instance that a. sleeve 16 is carried at the point of connection of the yoke arms and extends outwardly between the same. Projecting into the open end of this sleeve is a plug 17, to which the inner end of the pincette is firmly attached, and a spring 18 1s interposed between the inner end of the plug 17 and the base of the sleeve 16, so that these elements tend to move in opposite d1- reetions.

Due to the fact that the spring 18 rexerts a pressure inl excess of any pressure exerted by the legs of the pincette, and further due to the fact that in the normal or initial position of the parts the links 12 extend almost parallel to the lines of thrust exerted by the pressure upon the yoke, this pressure will initially cause the jaws of the pincette to be brought into intimate Contact. However, after the jaws have been brought to position adjacent eac-h other, and as a consequence the movement of these members toward each other is interrupted, a continued movement of the yoke arms towards each other will necessarily result in the pincette being moved bodily towards the point of juncture of the yoke arms and against lthe counteracting tendency of the spring 16-it being obvious, due to the guiding influence exerted by the plug and sleeve, that the movement of the vtweezer will be confined to a proper path.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated in using a device constructed similarly to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, that an operator will simply grasp the actuating member and bring the points of the jaws to a position adjacent the particle or element to be withdrawn. Thereupon by simply squeezinfr the member, i. e., moving the yoke arms towards each other, the-element to be removed will be gripped between the jaws and a continued squeezing of the actuating member will cause the gripped element to be removed incident to the bodily retraction of the pincette.

If it is desired, means may be provided for now automatically eliminating the gripped particle or hair 4from between the jaws.- In the present instance, this has been accomplished by the use of a wiper which may be furnished by employing a rod 19 conveniently atlixed tothe yoke member and extending through the sleeve and slidably contacting with a bore formed in the plug. This rod extends beyond the plug and lies between the jaws and has its outer end termi nating at a point short of the outer ends thereof, it being observed that this outer rod end is in the nature of a wiper blade 20. Thus, upon the parts being actuated in the manner described in the preceding paragraph, it will be understood that the wiper will remain relatively stationary, and as a consequence movable with respect to the pincette. As a result, when' the element gripped by the jaws has been moved to a certain extent inwardly and well clear of the body from which it has been withdrawn, this part will be contacted by the wiper blade 20 and thus be eliminated from a position between the pincette jaws-it being here noted that if desired a further stop may be incorpora-ted in the device by flanging the plug 17 adjacent its upper edge as at 2l, so that it will contact with the outer edge of the sleeve in order to limit the inward movement of the pincette.

1t will be obvious that in commercial manufacture numerous different forms of the invention might be lnade. For example, it might be found to be more economical to incorporate an extremely limited amount of resiliency in the legs of the yoke member, and to have a spring influence embodied in the members which connect the outer ends of the yoke arms. with the pincette jaws. Une practical manner of accomplishing this result has been depicted in Figs. 3 and 4. In this type of construction, it will be noted that similarly to the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the tweezermay include a yoke member, pincette and guide construction, and also if desired a. wiper may in certain instances be employed to advantage. However, contrary to the construction aforementioned, the type of link shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is preferably discarded, and a link of the nature illustrated in Fig. 4 is substituted. This link in the illustrated embodiment embraces a resilient wire having its ends 22 extending adjacent to and bearing against the opposite surfaces of the yoke and pincette members. Adjacent the inner parts of these end portions the wire may be coiled as at 23 in order first to enhance the spring effect achieved, and second to anchor the wire to the instrument by virtue of having these coiled portions passing around the pins, which as in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, provide the points of pivotal attachment of the links to the apparatus. The body portion 24 of the wire is thus brought to extend between the yoke and pincette arms and obviously connects the two 1,ca1,11o

so that Ithe desired effect is achieved, and the partswill normally tend to remain in their open position.

In using an instrument of this type, itl' will be appreciated that similarlyto that form of tweezer described in connectionv with Figs. 1 and 2, a compressing of thev yoke member will cause an initial contacting of the pincette jaws and a subsequent retraction ofthe pincet-te, untilthe same finally reaches a point at which its furthermovements are limited by means of the stop aforo-described,

and in which position the wiper'will act to eliminate any gripped particle from between the pincet-te jaws. 'A

In certain instances, it may be found desirable tomaintain the parts normally in the position shown in Fig. 3, and in orderto achieve this result any suitable Aconfining element may be utilized, which may take the form of a. strip of material 25 suitably con nected to the outer ends of the yokev arms,I

together by links and al slidable plug and sleeve construction. In the present figure, however, the sleeve and consequently all operating units of the device, are carried by a base 26 which is of a size permitting of the application of a eap27 thereto. This cap wi l bear against the outer faces of the yoke arms and prevent their assuming a normal position, so that it might be said that the cap will act asa confining agent.. Furthermore, in this type of construction as well as in any of the foregoing types, it will be understood that in order to assure a proper cooperation between the pincette jaws, a cam construction may he utilized. In the present instance, this construction embraces a-pair of spring arms 28, which have their inner ends connected with the base 26, their outer ends terminating in channel portions29slidably engaging the outer and side faces. of the pincette legs when this part of the instrument. is in retracted* position. Thus, while the pincette may be free of engagement with the channel portions of the arms 28 when the tweezer parts lare in the position shown'in Fig. 1, it will be obvious that as the pincette begins to move rearwardly, i. e., to be retracted, a firm cooperating engagement will be established between th'ese arms, and due to the cam action which will takeV place at this point, the jaws will .be forced together with increasing intimacy, so that an accidental dislodgment of the gripped particle' will be lvirtually precluded, a release of the particle not being caused to close the'circuit.

effected until the wiper blade performs itsY function.

Finally, referring to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the invention also lends itself to' the construction of' an electricallyA 'operated tweezer. In this view, 'the reference numeral 30 indicates a casing,.which may b'e formed with a suitable opening 3l through which the jaw portions of a pincette 32 extend. These jaw portions are continued in the form of legs pivotally connected together as at 33, and a spring 34 maynormally serve to maintain the jaws out of contact-with each other,

it being noted that the rear ends of the tweezer legs terminate in blocks 35, having their outermost faces inclined rearwardly and inwardly. An armature 36 is also .provided which, by meansof a rod 37, is'connected with a spherical member 38'extending between and' normally beyond `the aforementioned Vfaces of the blocks 35, and it will -be' perceived that a spring 39 is preferably interposed between the outer edge of .a solenoid 40 and the inner ends ofwthe pincette legs, in order to normally maintain the latter elements 1n the posltion shown, A suitable source of energy is arranged in circuit with the solenoid 40, and this circuit has a gap,

the ends of which are defined by contacts 41. A contactbridging` member 42 may be .carried by a spring arm 43, the inner end of which is attached to the casing 30, and thus it will be understood that; an operator may simply grip this. casing and by squeezin the same the circuit closer 42 will be broug t to a position at which it will engage the con* tacts 4l, thus closing the circuit through the solenoid 40. l

` In using a device of this character, it willl be understood that the jaws of the pincette are initially brought to a position adjacent the particle or element to be removed, and thereupon the contact bridging member is This will obvi ously result `in the solenoid 40 being energized, thus throwing the armature 36 inlill wardly and as a consequence drawingthe rod 37 and the spherical member 38 in a similar direction. This latter action will inltl'ally result 1n the sphe-rlcal member engaging the upper faces of the block 35 to thus cause the legs of the pincette to be rocked around their point of pivotal connection and as a consequence to cause the jaws to engage the particle to be gripped. Immediately subsequent tov this action ot' the parts Vand due to the continuedmovement of the armature the pincet-te will obviously be retracted against the action of the spring 39 so that the gripped particle will be removed from the body into which it extends.

In operating all of the foregoing forms, it will be appreciated that the initial actuation of the parts will merely result in an engagement of the particle to be gripped, this enlli'i gagement bein extremely positive and more than amp e for the purpose of withdrawing the particle, and immediately subsequent to this grigping action the gripped element will be wit drawn bythe rearward snapping of the pincettci f From the foregoing, it will be agpreciated that the objects of this invention ave been accomplished, and since certain chan es may be made in the above article and ilierent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from lthe scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.'

1t is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and s ecific features of the invention herein descri ed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of lanvuage, might be said to fall therebetween.

.[-aving described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A tweezer, including, in combination, a pair of gripping jaws, means mount-ing said jaws, means forming a part 0f said mounting means for resisting bodily rearward movement thereof, and means for moving said jaws into gripping position and subsequently forcing the same bodily rearwardly against the resistance of said means.

2. A tweezer, including a pair of gripping jaws, a pair of actuating arms extending into a. plane short of the outer ends of said jaws, links between said arms and jaws and connected with said elements, and means for slidably mounting said jaws.

3. A tweezer, including, in combination, a pair of gripping jaws, a pair of arms extending adjacent said jaws. a spring mounted by said arms and cooperating with said jaws to resist rearward movement of the latter, and means connecting 'said arms with said jaws to force the latter into engagement and rearwardly against the act-ion of said spring when said arms are moved toward each other.

4. A tweezer, including a pair of gripping jaws, apair of arms extending adjacent the same, a housing carried by said arms, a spring associated with said housing and cooperating with said jaws to resist rearward movement of the latter, and links extending between said arms and jaws to canse the latter to move into engagement and be moved bodily rearwardly against the resistance of said spring upon said arms being moved toward each other.

5. A twcezer, including a pair of gripping jaws, a pair of arms extending adjacent the same, links connecting said arms with said jaws and extending rearwardly with respect thereto, and means for guiding said jaws whereby upon said arms being moved totween said jaws during the retraction thereof to eliminate any gripped particle.

7. A tweezer, including a pair of gripping jaws, means for moving said jaws into gripping position, means for maintaining the position of said jaws during such movement, and means acting subsequently to the jaws `assuming suchposition to move the same bodily rearwardly to a material extent.

8. A tweezer, including, in combination, a pincette, a yoke extending adjacent said pincette, and links extending between said yoke and the legs of said pinccttc and pivotally connected to each of the same.

9. A tweezer, including, in combination, a pair of jaws, manualiy-opeiable means for moving said jaws towards each other and bodily retracting the same, and wiping means extendible between said jaws to remove a gripped particle therefrom during their retraction. f

10. A tweezer, including in combination, article cngagin means, means for actuating said means, an means contac-tible with said engaging means for positively eliminating an article therefrom.

11. A tweezer, including` in combination, a pincette, a. yoke extending adjacent said pincette, a pair of links having their outer4 1 ends connected to said yoke adjacent the outer ends of the latter, their inner ends being pivotally connected to the jaws of said pincette, and means forming a part of said tweezer to normally maintain the pincette in projected posit-ion with its jaws separated.

12. A tweczer, including in combination, article gripping means, actuating means therefor, means tending to project said gripping means, and means associated with said actuating means whereby upon the Ilatter being operated said gripping means will grasp an article and be subsequently materially retracted against the tendency of said projecting means.

13. A tweezer, including in combination, article gripping means, actuating means therefor and including parts movable towards and away from each other, means tending to project said gripping means, and means associated with said actuating means whereby upon the latter having its parts moved towards each other said gripping means will grasp an article and be subsequently materially retracted against the tendency of said projecting means.

14. A tweezer, including, in combination,

llb

a pincette, a yoke extending adjacent said pineette, a housing carried by said yoke, links extending between and connected with said yoke and pincette, and aspring extending 5 into said housing and acting against said pincette to normally project the same. l

15. A t-weezer, includin in combination, a pincette, a. yoke extending adjacent said pincette, links extending between said yoke 10 and the legs of said pincette, and means for -normally maintaining the jaws of said pincette in separated condition.

16. A tweezer, including, in combination, a yoke comprising a pair of arms, a housing extending from between said arms, a pincette, and links extending between the arms of said yoke and the legs of said pincette, said pincette being guided by said housing.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

SAMUEL SEGAL. 

